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1. Pick a suitable photo of yourself: In the picture below the background is a bit messy, but the light on my face is good. No make-up photo’s usually are better to work with!

2. Start with your base ( base background and raster; check this photo reference tutorial to see how : Reference tutorial) and set up your basic facial features. I started with an orange base to ensure a warm skin tones. Then I chose a complementary blue as background colour.

3. Next I brightened the colours more and added some highlights. As you can see, the base colour of the hair is a purple hue, which would seem odd at first. But is really works as a base colour!

4. Time to define the colours! Below you can see the hair evolving from a purple colour to a blonde shade by applying lighter red/brown colours on top of the base. I also smoothed the skintones and gave the dress another colour (which worked better with the background)

5. It is color dodge time! The previous image lacked brightness and contrast. which I added in this step. Also, I added more colour dynamics by color dodging (to see how you can color dodge, click here: Color Dodge )

6. Next step is adding textures for colour dynamics. I was able to add a popping pink colour. (To see how I apply textures, click here: Texture tutorial )

7. And add finishing touches to complete your portrait!

Hope you guys find this helpfull! I would recommend you check out the following tutorials as well to get a better sense of my drawing process:

Last tutorials we focussed on recreating an image, this time I will explain to you how to use references and composition to create a new, original piece.

I wanted to create a modern version of the Greek Goddess Athena and found this great image of Cara Delevingne to serve as reference (the owl is so cute!).

1. Open a blank document and set up your reference photo side by side. This document is 3000 x 4200 pixels with 300 DPI (to ensure high image quality). I choose an orange hue to ensure warm tones in my drawing.

3. Determine your basic colours. As you can see, in the beginning I let the reference image guide my composition.

4. From here, I defined some facial details but decided not to ‘copy’ the exact features; my goal was to create a new image. The next step was adding new details. As Athena is the Goddes of strategy, I decided to add a chesspiece (the queen) in her left hand. This meant that her left arm had to be altered, I had to add a left hand and a chesspiece. Which means you have to look for references! I found my reference photos on Pinterest.

5. This is a tricky part: as you can see I tilted both pictures a bit to fit into the artwork (it is not necessary, but makes it easier). You can tilt them by using the Tranform option (CRTL + T). Paint your composition change on a new layer; when you mess up (which sometimes happens, no worries!), you can always delete the layer and start anew.

6. And keep drawing! The image below already shows the altered hand with the chesspiece.

7. This is the part where I start adding my textures (for this tutorial click here: Texture tutorial ). Furthermore, I added a lighter colour in the background to add some perception of depth in the image.

8. I felt like there was something missing in the image, like it could use another object or detail. To review the composition in your artwork, add a new layer and look at the basic shapes. I found there to be a radial component in the composition, as you can see in the image below.

I determined the spot for the new detail by arranging a triangle in this radial. As you can see, her face falls exactly in the middle of this triangle. This means that eventhough you add another details to your artwork, attention will still be drawn to her face. This is important guys!

Another composition trick that always works is the usage of the golden ratio, otherwise known as phi (Φ, 1.618). This image below explains the basics of it (image source: Wikipedia):

A formula about the ratios translates to: . A bit complicated perhaps, but it comes down to this: if you create a canvas that is 10cm or inch high (side a), make it 16.18cm or inch wide (side a+b) (and yes, 1/ 0.618 = 1.618). In order to make the most pleasing composition, place your main subject somewhere at the line between a and b.

Let show this principle in these artworks (amazing artist is Ahmed Aldoori ):

This does not mean you have to use these principles! Most artists compose their subjects intuitively at the golden ratio. Use these tips if you want to revise your composition.

8. I placed a roman number 7 (VII, one of the symbols of Athena) at the indicated spot. I then continued drawing.

9. This is what I ended up with!

I hope you liked it! If you have any requests for a next tutorial, please let me know in the comments below 🙂

This step by step tutorial will show you my approach on drawing portraits from (photo) references. I hope this will help you with your art!

Reference photo’s I usually find on Pinterest (including this photo).

Set up your reference photo side by side to your blank drawing document. This document is 3000 x 4200 pixels with 300 DPI (to ensure high image quality)

1. Create a white layer on top of your reference picture and set it to 50 % opacity; this allows you to see the basic shapes of the photo.

2. Draw, with a dark colour, these basic shapes on top of the white layer. This makes it very easy to copy the shapes onto your drawing

3. Start with a basic raster and start drawing the found shapes onto your canvas

4. Look and see if you can find the smaller, more detailed shapes (usually the facial features) in the reference picture and draw these in both reference and your canvas

5. Flip it! Horizontally flip both images to check for any asymmetry and irregularities. Adjust them if necessary.

6. Flip the image back and start working on your colours and background. As you see here, I went with the contrasting colours red and blue.

7. This is the moment you remove the white and lines layer from the reference picture and start defining the shapes and shadows.

8. Also pay attention to your colours! I always use my colour picker ; this will ensure you keep a balanced and cohesive colour palette.

9. You just have to keep on drawing; every once in a while, take a pause (drink something, do a little dance, whatever) and take a new and refreshed look at your painting: adjust the things that, at first glance, seem out of place .

10. When I am almost finished, I usually add some textures, change the lights a bit, adjust some colours and voilà! Portrait is done!

And your done! If you have any remaining questions, you can always comment them below 🙂

Lately, I have been drawing a lot of portrait studies to improve on my drawing skills. I made this tutorial to give you guys insight in my working process.

First of all, pick a picture to use as a reference photo. Usually, I search on Pinterest for reference pictures.

Pick a subject to draw (Cara Delevigne here as an example) and choose a suited picture to use as reference. Next to it, I open a large blank document (30cm x 42 cm in 300 DPI) and pick a muted colour ( I always opt for blue) as background.

Once you have picked your reference photo, create an improvised raster on a new layer in the blank document. This helps set out your basic shapes and proportions.

Before I set my timer, I lay out my basic lines to see where my outlines are going to be, otherwise I will be struggling to keep the drawing within canvas borders.

Set you timer to 20 minutes and do not pay attention to the time! The first few times you will struggle to keep up with your set ‘deadline’, but the more you practice, the faster you get.

For tutoring purposes, I will post my set time to explain what I draw/do in the time given.

The first 3 to 4 minutes are important drawing your basic shapes and shadows. Highlights I usually add at the end, because they add more detail to a portrait. And given your time limit, I would recommend adding details at the end! Otherwise you could get preoccupied in drawing details, hence forgetting your 20 minute deadline 😉 .

At this point I often flip my image to scan for any assymmetry I would otherwise overlook. Adjust these flaws for only a couple of minutes.

Flip you images back to the original lay-out and re-evaluate your facial proportions. At this moment I noticed that her face was a bit to wide.

Quick fix with the transform function and keep on drawing! At this point I darken my shadows and start adding highlights. Do not think to much about it, just go with it. That timer is going to beep soon!

This was my result after 20 minutes. It is not perfect, but then again, it is not supposed to be perfect since it is a study! This is the way we learn, peeps. Just keep on drawing and drawing and practicing and studying…

For aesthetics sake, I edit my pictures just a little bit, as you can see in the image below.

This does not take me more than 2 minutes; And I will add some more contrast, a colour dodge layer in a complementary colour, and some tweaking with levels and vibrance. That is it guys! Oh, and never ever forget to add your name.

Here’s another short tutorial of my newest drawing. I will guide you through my art process step by step.

I always start with a base sketch where I lay out most of my values. Usually it will need some adjustments regarding anatomy or pose, but it is rhoughly finished.

I also make sure the background has its base value, which makes it easier to adjust.

Next step is adding colours. I love this part, because you get to play around with the colour pallette! I often work on a soft layer for adding basic colours.

Again, pay attention to your background! I have a preference for textured backgrounds, as you can see in the image above. The top is a light colour, because I want my adience to focus on her face.

To adjust the colours you just applied, add a normal layer and start working with your shapes, making use of your colour picker (one of Photoshops best tools 🙂 ). This way, you work with the colours you already have, gradually defining the outlines of your artwork.

The vibrance adjusting guys! This helps me so much in perfecting my colours. Also, keep adjusting contrast and adding hinglights and shadows (as I did here with her shirt). It makes an object stand out more. Another trick I use influencing colours, is picking a basic colour (blue, red, yellow, purple, green, you name it) and filling a whole layer with it. Set this layer to lighten, colour dodge, overlay or soft layer to emphasize or dull out certain colours.

Work on your highlights! Most of the time I work with warm colours as highlights, and this drawing was no exception. In the image above, the bikini bottom has gotten a texture to add detail. You can easily apply textures by copying an image as a seperate layer on your artwork. Hit CTRL + T and go to the arch icon above your image ( view process in image below).

When you hit the warp option in Transform, it lets you shape the layer in any way you want. First, I make a layer more transparant to see how the folds in a piece of clothing flow. Follow the lines of the piece of clothing you want to add the texture to.

Set the layer to a blending mode of your choice (in the example picture below I used linear light) and start erasing the overlapping contours. I also erase a bit of the texture in the shadow part to let a texture ‘fade’.

Lastly, I add an overall texture over my image in order to make my artwork a more cohesive piece. And I never forget to colour dodge. Add you last details (like backlights) in this step, but do not spend to much time on it!

Always add your name to a piece before publishing it online. And then you’re done!

After carefull consideration I decided to re-open my Etsy shop, selling my digital artwork as prints (size A4 and A3)! The first artworks are already up in my shop 🙂

I print these drawings on high quality 120 grams paper with a professional inkjet printer. The colours in these prints are true to the digital artworks, which is AH-MA-ZING. You can view examples of these prints in the pictures below.

I am so happy to share this with you guys. You can check out my shop here: Etsy Shop